Judge orders British bomb plot suspects to stay behind bars

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Police officers stand guard outside the City of Westminster Magistrates Court in London as the 11 bomb plot suspects arrive to make their first appearances before a judge. ((Sang Tan/Associated Press))

Eight suspects charged in connection with an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners were ordered on Tuesday to stayin jail until their next court appearance.

Eleven suspectsare making their first court appearances since being detained on Aug. 10. A judge ordered the first eight to be held until they make their next court appearance on Sept. 2. None applied for bail.

The eight are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and preparing acts of terrorism. A ninth person is charged with possessing articles that could be used to prepare a terrorist act.

The remaining two face charges of failing to disclose information about potential acts of terrorism.

Tuesday marks the first time the 11 have appeared in public since British police announced they had thwarted a suspected plan to set off bombs on at least 10 flights travelling between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Police said 23 were detained in all. One woman has been released without charge, leaving 11 people still in custody, but not yet charged.

"Fingerprints, DNA, electronic data, handwriting comparisons, chemical analysis and indeed the full range of forensic disciplines will be used," Peter Clarke, the deputy assistant commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorism unit said after the charges were announced on Monday.

"The meticulous investigation of all this material will take many months. All the data will be analyzed. There will be thousands of forensic examinations and comparisons," he said. "The scale is immense. Inquiries will span the globe."

The arrests of the 23 prompted security officials at airports in Britain, the U.S. and Canada to clamp down on items brought on board airplanes, banning liquids and items with gel-like consistencies from carry-on luggage. It's believed the suspected bombers planned to use a chemical explosive.

British officials said Monday the plot involved the manufacture of explosives, which would be assembled and detonated on board airliners.

Investigators will decide by Wednesday if the 11 people still in custody will be charged, released or if police will request more time to investigate.